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INDEPENDENT BEER INDEPENDENT SPIRITS DAMN GOOD FOOD 41 41 N . ME SA - E L PASO, TE XAS
THE HOUSE THAT METAL IS BUILDING PAN Y AGUA GROUP SERVING UP THE EAST
ELPASOSTRONG FUSION GALLERY : JENN MÁRQUEZ
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FUSION MAGAZINE #112
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Oscar Castañeda — oscar@thefusionmag.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Alex Durán — alexduran@thefusionmag.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Rafael A. Revilla — rrevilla@thefusionmag.com ENGLISH COPY EDITOR Daniel Salas — dbsalas@thefusionmag.com SALES MANAGER Oscar Castañeda Sr — oscarc@hefusionmag.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS & COLLABORATORS: Bjorzh Znchz, Alba García, Alexandria Viescas, Beto Moran, Ben Santana GRAPHIC DESIGN Oscar Castañeda CONTACT info@thefusionmag.com FUSION at USA: (915) 231.8895 - (915) 875.9991 FUSION en MEX: (614) 415.4941
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ELPASOSTRONG AWAKENING OF AN AMERICAN DREAM WORDS:
BJÖRZH ZNCHZ
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p to today there have been endless and repeated discussions on practically every communication media about the number of mortal victims, the wounded, the perpetrator and the possible reasons for the attack that took place in the city of El Paso on August 3rd, 2019. It has been said that one of the goals of these horrific acts is precisely this: to repeat its author’s “feat” and in turn to give it its infamous credit time and again. The racist conspiracy theory known as the “Great Replacement”, white supremacy and other xenophobic expressions that widely pollute both interior and exterior political discourse, as well as the twisted right-wing discourse are all terms that no longer have room in our vocabulary; they are inconceivable. We are the product of a multicultural union that goes beyond political division. We are mestizo, we are people who speak english while harboring deep Mexican roots; we are the first great gate to the latin American community, we are not invaders, we are neighbors. The most concerning aspect is the reverberation of these ideas in the social and political community—including the President of the United States—which adhere to the radical ideas of many who see the fusion of cultures as something unacceptable. The photograph of the President of the United States and his wife placidly smiling next to a recently orphaned baby in a medical center in El Paso shows the evident lack of tact and common sense in which this administration is submerged. The US President’s posture is very clear: “Mental illnesses and hate pull the trigger, not the guns.” The politics behind the use and acquisition of high caliber
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weapons are a key element in this reality in which each one of us are survivors of a massacre that hasn’t happened yet, only because the future killer did not have sufficient incentives today to see it thru. Weapons have one sole purpose: to take lives. Why do we even need an assault rifle in our home? The regulation of the firearms industry is a topic that every American administration has not been able to concretize. The socio-political debate about the distorted 2nd Amendment of the American Constitution continues to divide both the national community and international postures with each passing day. Perhaps we can’t declare the dignitary as guilty, but admittedly as an agitator and to a certain extent, as a sympathizer to immigrant rejection by way of his actions and discourses that incite hate. An example of this was displayed last May when the President smiled whilst an assistant at one of his rallies in Florida hollered a proposal to shoot immigrants at the Mexican border in order to stop their crossing into the country. This time it was not a mosque, the killer was not associated with foreign terrorist cells, it is a 21 year-old young man prompted by these hate filled judgments. The objective was the Mexicans, the equation has been completed; this act is the result of a campaign against Mexicans in the United States. The democratic presidential ex-candidate Hillary Clinton wrote on social media: “People suffer from mental illnesses in every other country on earth; people play video games practically in every country in the world. The difference is the guns.” Along this border one cannot speak of a “hispanic invasion”
because it is the very migration which comes and goes— like the blood that feeds this binational community’s heart. Pochos, gringos and those from el Chuco do not care about skin color, about the language spoken or if your papers are in order, in the border you work and you work hard, you lend a hand to the one who needs it, the one who just arrived, the one who is leaving; this way of life turned the city of El Paso into one of the safest cities in the United States of America. This borderland community was shot, this community which behaves like a living creature who reacts to what happens on both sides of the border. Let our countrymen wake up from the American dream; we have been wounded, our own have
been killed. We are one of the most predominant populations in the American territory, we can achieve great things. The solution resides on being informed, on giving support and being active citizens for the interests of our community. The rising numbers are horrifying, the cruelty and recidivism of these attacks are terrorizing, nevertheless, the biggest fear is always that it could have been you. Those who are now deceased were in the same place you and I both have been before. We need to stop being passive civilians, the duty of a citizen does not end with a vote, compelling actions are sorely needed, we need love, we need peace. 
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Pan Y Agua Group SERVING UP THE EAST
WORDS:
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ALEXANDRIA VIESCAS
ince 2008, Pan y Agua Restaurant and Bar Group has been one of the biggest restaurant/bar names in the 915 with over 500 employees and thousands of daily customers. They have more than satisfied the west and the east side of El Paso with juicy burgers, al pastor tacos, squared doughnuts, fresh cups of coffee and a variety of local favorites. They are definitely not new to the east side, and have finally shared one of their many west side favorites, Fool’s Gold, at a new second location. There had been many whispers as to who was going to reside in the newly opened location at the Sun Fire Village shopping center—until Pan y Agua Group made their next move.
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Pan y Agua partners, Rudy Valdes, Nick Salgado and Octavio Gomez discussed how they could not pass up going east. “We came across a good opportunity and knew it would be challenging, as were all of our projects,” Gomez explained. Fool’s Gold grasps the culture and atmosphere of El Paso by allowing its patrons to enter through the pawn shop, which can feel quite misleading up until they open a refrigerator door to the ultimate backyard party. “We wanted to create a bar that celebrated El Paso, a desert dive bar, where bartenders will learn your name and give you great service. The patio makes you forget where you are and live in the moment.” “Fool’s Gold transports you for the time that you are there,
to good times,” Gomez said. “We don’t take ourselves too seriously, we try to have all the drinks that people normally want. My favorite, is the Backyard Ranch Water—it’s Maestro Dobel tequila, tons of lime juice, club soda and a sprinkle of salt. It’s what I drink at home, so why not put it on the menu?” What makes Fool’s Gold tacos great and a local favorite? Chef Rudy Valdes explains, “It’s the attention to detail that goes into them; the pastor is sliced and marinated in-house, the salsas are also home made and the tortillas are made daily. And when people see that amount of effort and then realize it’s all for a buck, what’s not to love?” Pastor tacos are not the only snack that east side foodies will be craving. Independent Burger and Hillside Coffee & Donut Company have also recently opened their second location serving breakfast, lunch and dinner—every day of the week. If having these 2 locations on the east side isn’t enough, they are also conveniently next to each other. Their first concept to go east was Crave Kitchen and Bar on 11990 Rojas In 2011. “We have had a presence on the east side since 2011 with our second opening of Crave Kitchen & Bar on Rojas,” Salgado said. “Since then, we have also opened another Crave Kitchen & Bar in the Fountains. We have always been welcomed with open arms, so we knew we were ready to open a couple more concepts of ours. This included Hillside Coffee & Donut company, Independent Burger and Fool’s Gold Bar.” Independent Burger’s second location has stayed true to their burgers and chicken sandwiches by offering the same standard since 2013—fresh produce, fresh beef and free-range turkey and chicken. The only difference on the east side menu is an exclusive treat to the location—soft serve concrete. Hillside Coffee & Donut Company’s second location also offers the same menu as their west side location, but cater to their morning go-getters who are perhaps in a rush with a new addition to their concept: a drive thru. Hillside Coffee & Donut Company continue to use local, 2Ten Coffee Roasters for their signature blends. Pan y Agua Group’s constant expansion contributes to El Paso’s very own growth in the restaurant and bar industry. They keep it local with their own twist, and welcome El Paso’s culture in every establishment. The group expressed Pan y Agua LLC’s progress: “El Paso is growing so much and we want to be a part of that growth and be able to show our concepts to all of El Paso. We aren’t nervous to grow, El Paso has always been good to us.”
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LOCAL SOUNDS
AN INTERVIEW WITH SOFT SWEATER WORDS:
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ith so many bands around sticking to a niche formula, very few can diversify a sound that metamorphosis from song to song, or even flat out in the middle of the track, making them impossible to categorize—but still making it work. Fresh into the El Paso music scene are indie-punks Soft Sweater creating their own vibes and weaving together genres. The band has just released their first album No Future across digital streaming platforms like Spotify and Bandcamp on July 22nd, and a cassette tape became available at their shows as of August 7th. They shared some words with Fusion about the band’s dynamic and their new album. Hey guys why don’t you introduce yourselves. Ernie: This is Ernie. I play guitar, and I do vocals. Mario: Mario. I play bass. Daniel: Daniel, and I play drums. Marci: I’m Marci. I just watch them. Caroline: I’m Caroline (manager). My pronouns are she and they. Ernie: Alright Andy, you have to say your name and what you do in the band. Andy: Andy. I...that’s also what I do. I think you guys have a very 90s sound with elements of punk, rock & roll and experimental, how would you describe your sound and what genre do you think it falls under? M: Alternative rock. D: I’d like to think we have a lot of weird country elements, but it’s very garage, punk and hardcore at some points. But then there’s also really fucking soft songs. It’s really weird. We just play what we like. Marci: If the Murder City Devils and
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Tame Impala had a baby then it would produce the love child of Soft Sweater. A: I’ve been yelling polka over everything else. I listened to your record No Future while driving, how do you suggest to listen to it ? E: I would say that, like most music we enjoy and listen to, it’s in the car. But if you listen to it on headphones, it’s a treat. For sure.
M: Listen to it during sex. C: I agree with listening to it in the car. It’s pretty cool. A: During the most boring parts of your day to spike things up. D: I would say, if you were doing some job or something, and you need something to keep you going, it’s a good piece of music that’s entertaining. It’s more than just songs, it’s a good time. I enjoy all these songs even though I’ve written none of them. Marci: Listen to it on a broken speaker.
Do any of the lyrics or songs intertwine on the album? Concept album? E: It’s not necessarily a concept album, but every song has a concept of its own. M: So basically, the lyrics are about what Ernie feels and the things that he’s felt throughout his life. You know, maybe some of the songs are about Ernie’s childhood, about Ernie’s love hood, and maybe some of the songs are about Ernie’s future. But I couldn’t know because I’m not Ernie. So. D: I’d like to say that the lyrics to “Don’t Feel It” are my favorite. Why No Future for the name? E: So, why its called No Future is because I imagined, what if I didn’t have a future? Maybe I was in a dark point in my life once, and I was like; well yeah, what if I don’t have a future. Why don’t I just do what the fuck I want to do right now, and enjoy it? I guess it’s kinda YOLO, for sure. M: It’s called No Future because Ernie really likes Odd Future, and couldn’t come up with anything better. D: No Future means there is everything in our future. What is the song writing process? D: Ernie comes up to us and he’s like, “Ah, I got a new song for you guys,” and it’s already finished. He already has the drums and the bass, and then he’s like, “Play this. If you don’t play this, you’re out.” E: I demo out all the songs, and I show it to them. But what’s cool is that we have a new album with songs from Mario, songs from me and songs from Danielson. So the next album will have songs written by all of them. M: He sings like Axl Rose. I’m not even fucking with you.
How did your out of town shows with Lenguas Largas go? Any good tour stories? What spots do you guys play at? M: Lenguas Largas was awesome. They were really good. Best band that night. They were really fun to hangout with. We walked to a bar with them, and then we got drunk with them. Arizona is very hot. I’m never going back. A: It’s so hot, Mario got naked and was suffering. That’s the most I could take away from that. M: Maybe I got naked when I went to sleep. So what if I was next to Daniel? A: We got some badass tattoos. Everybody’s tattoos reflected their character in some way. And that’s the story. D: I thought the show we played with Lenguas Largas was fucking awesome. We played at Club Congress, and that was fucking badass. I’ve never felt so welcomed in a different city in my life. It was super fun. They killed it that night. I wanted to die after that because I don’t need anything else. I was very drunk also. I just remember going to record stores and buying records for no reason, and watching Ernie play pinball. And then watching Mario play pinball and get really pissed off, and watch the owners look at him because he fucking slammed his hands on the pinball machine. But it was awesome. E: Big shoutout to Lenguas Largas. Everyone in the band. Saw a lot of cactuses. Andy was along with us for the ride, and captured a lot of the moments. So, we’ll have a video of the tour soon. So you can see all the details of what happened. What mediums or where can we find your music ? M: On the internet, basically. Look us up on Google, Google images, Google videos. Look us up on Spotify. On Apple Music. Everything pretty much. You know. D: Come watch us live. E: That’s the best way. Future releases or tours? Mario: Yeah, I guess we’re working on a new album. It’s pretty nice. I wrote a few songs, and Ernie wrote some songs. I guess we’ll probably record that soon. And when its out, its out. And we’ll have a good time. C: I hope there is a future.
SOFT SWEATER at set to play in Marfa, Texas on Saturday, 9/21 alongside The Genders at Lost Horze Saloon. instagram.com/softsweaterband
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FUSION GALLERY JENN MÁRQUEZ “Siempre me ha atraído el diseño de vestuario, investigar prendas características de otras épocas y lugares... Quisiera seguir explorando ese interés en mi trabajo. Pienso que la manera de vestir de un personaje le da contexto y personalidad, crea una narrativa visual.”
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TXT:
RAFAEL A. REVILLA
na de las ventajas de ser joven es la experimentación y la exploración sin inquietudes ni remordimientos, Jenn Márquez es joven, es ilustradora y no tiene miedo de trabajar con diferentes técnicas, su trabajo se basa en la experimentación de estilos y metodologías, igual hace acuarelas que combina con diseño en vectores que serigrafía y después aplica sus creaciones a patrones textiles, hace lo que le gusta y ese sentimiento se ve en su
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trabajo, lo que se le ocurre lo hace con soltura y gracia, sus personajes son casi oníricos, sus colores tienen texturas contrastantes pero no de una manera estridente sino sutil, sus dibujos están cargados de feminismo que junto a sus trazos ligeros y las texturas que utiliza tienen una carga de nostalgia y misticismo. instagram.com/ jennmarquez.design
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THE HOUSE THAT METAL IS BUILDING ROCKHOUSE BAR & GRILL WORDS:
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et's not downplay the metal scene here in El Paso—this desert town has had a rich history of home grown metal with the likes of Torture, Pissing Razors, Reign of Terror, The Hate Campaign and Years of Cold to name a few. These bands, along with other out of town metal acts, helped fuel our metal scene over the past decades, musically thrashing a myriad of bars and clubs all over the Sun City. These venues played an important role in keeping the metal scene alive because without any place to play, then there wouldn’t be a scene at all. Scorpios, the Big Apple, Sasos, the Attic, Surges, The Pit, even Club 101 and Tricky Falls all had a hand in keeping the metal scene alive. Over the course of time a lot of those venues, bars and concert halls that catered to the metal scene closed their doors. Not all WORDS: XXXcourse, | PHOTO: XXX of them of but enough where the affects on the scene left a vacuum and a demand for both bands and fans, needing some place to head bang and mosh to the music they live for. To say there was not any place for metal bands and their fans to congregate is not true, but the scene was in dire need of a true metal place to call home.
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A few years back an old well-known dive bar started making some changes to get both regional and national touring bands to play to the El Paso metal-rock scene. Those changes and a lot of hard work is paying off because more and more touring bands have been making a stop at the Rockhouse Bar and without a doubt, the Rockhouse Bar is living up to its name. Its not a hole in the wall, but at the same time not a concert hall. Rockhouse owner Matt Martinez explains, “Rockhouse is bar with a kick ass stage. We are not a venue because a venue holds 600 people. Even though we are limited because of our capacity, most of the big bands don’t have a problem with that because they are used to playing similar size places in Europe.” Bands such as Deicide, The Convalescence, Einseferium, Paul Gilbert, Upon a Burning Body, Tony Macalpine and Attila have all played this past year on the Rockhouse’s stage. Heavy hitters like Soulfly, Kataklysm and Exhorder are slated to play the month of
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September. This place has been relentlessly bringing some great out of town national acts to its stage for a good while now. The number of concerts that the bar has been offering not just on a monthly basis, but on a weekly basis has re-energized the metal scene and has been building the Rockhouse’s reputation on the touring circuit as class act place to play, well worth making the stop in El Paso. Matt recounts,”Rockhousdbefore was mainly a neighborhood bar that had local bands. We were not focused on anything that was on a national level. My partner Gabe had a vision of what this place could be, how it is now. He took it so far. When I came on board I was able to bring the connections I had made with booking agencies and promoters when I owned House of Rock. Once word got out what we were trying to do, we got bombarded with emails. It started us looking at making Rockhouse a place that could cater to bands on a national level.” Matt believes the positive feedback from the bands and touring managers so far have helped the bar get more shows being booked there in the coming months. Inbetween those big shows, Rockhouse has the local/original and cover bands play their stage. Matt is quick to point out, “A lot of times people think there is nothing going on here if there isn’t a big show. We are still a neighborhood bar with happy hour and we have a great kitchen. You can come out here on any given night and catch a show here. See an up and coming band that you will see and hear of on a bigger stage in the coming years.” Like the metal venues before it, Rockhouse is doing its part, giving the fans a place to see and hear metal live, which is necessary for a scene to keep going and growing. The metal scene thrives on music, the places to hear and see that music, and the fan support that drives it. Without the support of the music community going out and being a part of the scene, there will be no scene. Rockhouse is ushering in a new era for our metal scene, be a part of it. facebook.com/rockhouserdivebarkitchen
VEGAN IS THE SEED TO GROWTH OF THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN CUISINE WORDS:
ALEXANDRIA VIESCAS
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ocal restaurant owner Edgar Delfin, exploded with excitement when he saw a notification from a representative from the television channel Food Network. His restaurant, Lick It Up, had been selected to appear on the Food Network’s show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives hosted by celebrity chef Guy Fieri. He pulled over, parked, and honked his horn multiple times in excitement and yelled “Fuck yea!”
The country was about to find out all about Lick It Up and Delfin’s vision to rewrite the standard of Mexican food. Delfin was heavily influenced by growing up in a border town (El Paso/Juárez), and that eventually reflected his vision of Lick It Up. He began selling tacos in February of 2017 our of a food truck in the patio of Monarch bar, with only one vegan taco on the menu. “We capitalized on the vegan clientele slowly, added more options and then we went full vegan,” Delfin said. “Over the last years, it was the growth that led to the move. We went from a staff of 3, to 8.” On August 2, 2019, Lick It Up had their grand opening of their new brick and mortar at 114 E Mills Ave, inside of local bar International. The growing process began long before the decision to make the move. “As soon as Vice Munchies interviewed us at our food truck, we got so many people who wanted to check us out, people even traveled to us.” Vegan restaurants began to pop up on the border region, but what managed to set Lick It Up apart from other vegan options was keeping vegan intertwined into a Mexican dish. Border culture is a staple of El Paso, and Juárez nightlife was a part of it. Crossing over and back was a norm for Delfin, “I loved
NINA TITOVETS @HER_VISION
the whole experience of going to Juárez, partying and then going to a gordita or taco stand at the end of the night! Part of the experience of going out was going out to eat at the taco stands with your friends.” “I started eating vegan and I wanted a vegan Mexican menu, but the response I was getting was, that it was an insult to Mexican culture,” like Delfin, it is common for many Mexican-American restaurants on the border to have a Mexican dish with an option of poultry. “I know it sounds simple, but I was vegan and just wanted to make vegan food! I asked my business partner at the time, he gave the go-ahead, and we went for it.” Lick It Up then blew up. Delfin continued to repeatedly honk his horn as he took in a new chapter of Lick It Up’s success, “ It was a challenge to go completely vegan.” Delfin wanted to prove that he could make traditional Mexican plates without beef. One of his many challenges was taking a common Mexican dish, Milanesa, which is a breaded meat fillet and turning it 100% vegan, “I looked everywhere for a vegan Milanesa recipe and couldn’t find one! I am sure we were not the first one to come up with it, but we did it!” Lick It Up has successfully captured El Paso’s Mexican-American essence even going against all odds by keeping Delfin’s unique decision to go vegan, “I was never a manager, a boss, a sous chef, and there were a lot of up and downs.” Delfin began to explain, “It’s exciting to successfully represent Mexican food in a completely different way. We took El Paso and Juárez culture together with vegan perspective and brought visibility to the borderland.” instagram.com/lickitupelpaso
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tattoosby_joeluna
5640 MONTANA AVE (915)303-7131
tattoosby_jr
LueFresh
6 1 3 0 DY E R • E L PA S O , T X (915) 301-0984
12040 TIERRA ESTE – EL PASO, TEXAS – (915) 228-9245 UNIONDRAFTHOUSE.COM
PUMPING INK & KEEPING THE RIOT ALIVE! WORDS:
ALEX DURÁN
T
here are many challenges and opportunities to running a successful business: it takes dedication, tenacity, consistency and hard work. It also takes knowing when to make the right moves to better your business. Jake Baca, owner at Pumping Ink Tattoo Studio (located at 4001 Dyer St.) knows all about this. He’s been effective at staying relevant not only with his tattoo shop, but also with his annual event, The Great American Rockabilly Riot. We had the opportunity to speak with Jake about his tattoo shop as well as this year’s fest taking place at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino. What do your artists specialize in? Everything! Everybody specializes in their own; we have 14 tattoo artists here. We have 2 apprentices, 3 managers. Since we’re on the border of Fort Bliss [located in northeast El Paso], we have soldiers that come here and they want everything. So, we can’t just subject ourselves to one style, we have to do everything. Everybody is pretty much well rounded, but always having their specialty behind them.
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Anything custom? Anything custom, you name it! You bring us something and we’ll redraw it for you, we can rework anything. We do custom cover-ups, we do piercings and body modifications of different sorts. It’s not just a tattoo shop, it’s a piercing shop. What’s going on with the Rockabilly Riot? We moved it from the County Coliseum, which was Labor Day weekend 2018, to Sunland Park Casino. We partnered up with them and they’re doing so much for us. They’re actually wanting to partner up with us for next year so we can add the tattoo element back to it, but we’re (currently) dealing with the state and the city government as far as trying to come up with the right pricing, as far as the permits and the state licensing. Do you have a date for the event? For this year it’s going to be November 9th, and it’s mainly pinup—no tattoos involved, but there’s going to be a car show and music. We have co-headliners this year, we’re turning it back and we’re doing it a little bit local. Instead of doing the Great
American Rockabilly Riot, we cut out the Rockabilly and we’re doing the Great American Riot because we’re trying to push everything involved in Kustom Kulture. Kustom Kulture is everything involved in punk-rock, rockabilly, country—you name it, and different genres! Our co-headliners this year are going to be Pissing Razors, which are a huge factor in El Paso and the surrounding area. Pissing Razors go way back, from the 90s. They’ve opened up for bands such as D.R.I., and we’re also bringing the Rockets out of Los Angeles. They’re more Rockabilly/ psychobilly kind of style. And down from that we’re doing anything from Reggae style music, punk-rock, we’re going to have country bands and more soft-rock bands. Why did you guys move it from the Coliseum? Brian Kennedy and all the guys, all the years we did it there, 2 years in a row, they took care of us. I’m not going to bash anyone on anything. I just needed to step forward; our event is evolving. So, with us evolving that means we have to make changes. From the beginning we started at the Great American Steak House, and it got so big within 2 years that we had to move it to a bigger venue, which was Ascarate. Ascarate didn’t work out for us because it’s so hot out there and its nothing but pavement—to where we have the indoor/outdoor at the Coliseum which we worked out there. But, basically ticketing and Ticketmaster, this and that...I’d rather have full control from the beginning. So, this year ticketing will be full control through us. There is not going to be any surcharges. When and where can people get tickets? Tickets go on sale September 15th. We’re looking at a $20 dollar price that’s in full and that covers you getting in the whole event. It’s an all ages event. Anything else you want to add? This year we’re also bringing back the burnout contest. That was a huge hit last year, the burnout contest was insane! These guys are coming from the east coast and they’re coming with extra tires to burn out and they want to pop tires in from of all of our spectators. I would like to thank all the car clubs that are going to be at the event. I know it takes up a lot of time. There is a lot of people coming in from out of town that I would like to thank them, Rat Rod Magazine, Western Tech for always sponsoring us, every year they’re always looking out for us. Also any local vendors that are coming, I’d like to thank them, and trying to invite everyone out—come out and have a good time. It’s going to be Veteran’s Day weekend, so it’s a 3-day weekend!
facebook.com/GreatAmericanRockabillyRiot facebook.com/PITattoos
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